George Rankine Irwin
George Rankin Irwin | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 26, 1907 |
| Died | October 9, 1998 (aged 91) |
| Alma mater | Knox College and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Known for | Stress Intensity Factor |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Fracture mechanics and Strength of materials |
| Institutions | US Naval Research Laboratory, Lehigh University and University of Maryland, College Park |
George Rankin Irwin ForMemRS, or possibly George Rankine Irwin, (February 26, 1907 – October 9, 1998) was an American scientist in the field of fracture mechanics and strength of materials. He is known for defining the stress intensity factor, , which is used to characterise the state of stress around a crack tip. When this value exceeds the fracture toughness of a material the crack will rapidly propagate.
